Ed Wytovich of the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association shows photos of the work being done at the creek to a group of Hazleton Area High School students in Shawn Darraugh’s employability skills class during session on environmental stewardship inspiring a new generation to engage in volunteer service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy, The program was sponsored by the Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership and held at the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce on Monday. ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographe

Three people who have cleaned streams and lakes in Northeastern Pennsylvania told students on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that volunteers can improve the natural world.

Ed Wytovich said he wanted to volunteer since boyhood when his friend pointed to a pretty spot along a polluted stretch of river where they played and said: “I’ll bet in 30 years when they fix it up, we’ll be could go fishing.”

It took 40 years, but trout now live along that stretch of the Little Schuylkill River in Port Carbon, said Wytovich, who started a group to remove polluted mine drainage from the Catawissa Creek.

Ed Wytovich of the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association shows photos of the work being done at the creek to a group of Hazleton Area High School students in Shawn Darraugh’s employability skills class during session on environmental stewardship inspiring a new generation to engage in volunteer service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy, The program was sponsored by the Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership and held at the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce on Monday. ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer

Charlene Wildes missed the woods near where she grew up when she moved to the suburbs so she volunteered at a nature center. Later, she got a job there.

“When you volunteer you always get back more than you give,” said Wildes, who now works at the Lacawac Sanctuary in Lake Ariel, Wayne County.

John Levitsky of the Luzerne County Conservation Association said students can improve streams by planting trees along the banks. The trees shade the water, keeping temperatures cool enough for trout. Insects that fall off the leaves become food for fish, and the tree’s roots absorb water and prevent soil from washing into the creek after storms.

Shawn Darraugh brought his students from the employability skills class at Hazleton Area High School to learn from Wytovich, Wildes and Levitsky at the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce.

The lessons will give the students perspective later in the year when they volunteer to help maintain the Hazleton rail trail.

Bob Skulsky, who runs the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails Association from the chamber’s office, also joined the program. He told students that trout live in a stream that follows the new section of trail, even though the area contains mine spoils.

Don’t judge a stream by its color, Wytovich said.

Streams that are orange from iron washing out of coal mines support trout, even though the iron forms armor on the creek bottom and kills insects on which the trout feed.

“What we don’t know is how the food web develops,” he said.

Stretches of the Catawissa Creek, meanwhile, look blue as tropical waters, a sign that they might contain aluminum solutions, which gum up the gills of fish and prove deadly.

Wytovich showed photos of places along the Catawissa and in Eagle Rock Resort, where his group treats water with limestone.

The limestone makes the water less acidic and allows aluminum to precipitate into a white substance that isn’t fatal to trout, which perish when water dips below about 4.5 on the pH scale.

Even the rain and snow that falls on Northeastern Pennsylvania is acidic enough to harm fish.

Levitsky said he has sprinkled limestone on roads at stream crossings to raise the pH of Bowman’s Creek, which isn’t near mine sites. The rain’s pH, however, has improved from 4.3 to 4.8 in the past 15 years or because of air pollution controls on power plants, he said.

Levitsky hopes an entrepreneur can clean streams polluted by mine run-off by reclaiming and reusing metals like aluminum, iron and manganese that now enter the water.

Wildes suggested that students “go to a stream and flip some rocks.”

The number and species of insects that they find under the rocks will suggest whether the stream is healthy.

She also brought pelts, skulls, scat and even a deer hoof to introduce the students to animals that Skulsky said live along the rail trail.

“It wouldn’t exist in nature if it didn’t have a purpose,” Wildes said while showing differences between the skulls of predators and prey.

Deer have eyes on the sides of their skulls to see predators approaching and square teeth for eating plants. Conversely, coyotes look straight at their prey from eyes in the center of their skulls, and rip meat with jagged canine teeth.

Beavers have a gap behind their huge front teeth that allows room for them to carry tree limbs, which they preserve in mud during the fall so they and their young will have leaves to eat in winter.

Jacen Sterling, an 11th grader, said he was impressed by how much the condition of the water affects trout and the surrounding “chain of animals” that survive in a creek.

He said the session encouraged him to “protect the water and not dump into it.”

Today, EPCAMR welcomed two Seniors from King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA who are in the Environmental Studies Major to begin working as Watershed Outreach Specialist Interns. Jessica Johnson, Scranton, PA, and Amanda Hamstra, West Pittston, PA.

Jessica Johnson, native of Nanticoke, begins her first day on the job as a Watershed Outreach Specialist Intern with EPCAMR, reviewing mine maps, scanning, and cataloging historic Anthracite Mine Maps from throughout the region like the “C Vein” of the Connell’s Coal Company, in Sullivan County.

Jessica Johnson is majoring in Environmental Studies with minors in both Biology and Geography. She will be receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in May of 2015. She was born and raised in the Wyoming Valley and has lived in the City of Nanticoke her entire life until recently moving to Scranton. The subtle change in scenery in coming from a small City and moving to a slightly larger City has been a bit of a culture shock. She’s still adjusting to the faster paced lifestyle, as well as the bigger population. All of her life she knew that she wanted to do something special that would help change the path that this planet has taken due the hands of mankind.

She remembered back in High School at Greater Nanticoke Area, saying, “I always wanted to work for a non-profit environmental organization in the area that is dedicated and passionate about their cause, so working with EPCAMR, is somewhat, a dream come true of mine. With this internship I hope to gain a better understanding of the conditions of the land in my hometown and the surrounding areas and what is being done to improve it. I am looking forward to gaining hands on learning experiences in the field that will allow me to actually get out in the community and contribute all that I can to protecting and restoring the environmental landscapes that have been mining impacted around our region. I am especially interested in seeing, first hand, the effects coal mining has had on Northeastern PA and getting to actually go on to abandoned mine lands and in rivers and streams that have been impaired by abandoned mine drainage to get an up and close physical understanding of what past mining has done to our rivers, streams, and land.”

When not in classes, Jessica enjoys being outdoors any chance she can get. Her favorite Spring/Summertime activity is exploring 7 Tubs Nature Area, which has now just recently become a part of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Lackawanna State Parks Complex, after having been under the ownership of Luzerne County government that did very little over the years to make improvements to the property. Two years ago, EPCAMR led a group of volunteers to clean up the Nature Area. She likes to get lost as deep in the woods as she can and try to find her way out using only what she have learned in her classes like Botany and Geography.

During her Fall Semester of 2013, her class took a week long trip to the Chesapeake Bay, hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was a great experience where she learned about some of the damaging effects that the Susquehanna River has on the Bay and that our mining impacted areas do play a role in some of that pollution downstream.

Jessica dropping a trap in the Chesapeake Bay as a part of her Fall 2013 Field Class Experience on the Bay.

“It made me realize what an impact our area had on others around it, even as far away as Maryland and Virginia. This is even more of a reason for us to do our best to improve the communities in which we live and what we have, to make a better future for generations to come”, she proudly emphasized.

Amanda Hamstra currently lives in West Pittston, PA. She is a Senior at King’s College with a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Professional Writing. She will be graduating in May 2015. She enjoys writing, reading, and any outdoor activities, especially camping. She hopes to obtain a career where she can be outdoors to help preserve forests, wildlife, and to teach others the importance of nature. She also hopes to publish novels and possibly scientific articles one day.

She heard about EPCAMR through King’s Career Planning Office since we’ve previously sponsored many interns from King’s College over the years and decided to look into it. She had learned about acid mine drainage through courses she had taken and it sounded very interesting, so she decided to contact Mr. Hughes and he had kindly set up an interview and followed up with her, informing her of his decision to allow her to intern with EPCAMR. Amanda and Jessica were in many of the same classes and were on the same Chesapeake Bay outdoor Field Experience in the Fall of 2013.

Amanda goes on to say “I expect to broaden my knowledge about AMD, water pollution, mine land reclamation, and environmental education and how EPCAMR is making a true difference on those negative impacts to the environment with positive solutions. The field work should give me a better understanding about the impacts of AMD and help me network to learn more about the efforts of EPCAMR and other environmental organizations in NEPA.”

Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, goes on to say, “Jessica and Amanda will have a very busy semester this coming Spring into early Summer before they graduate in May. They are actually joining EPCAMR during a time that we will be in full swing with a variety of projects that we’ll be coordinating throughout the year. As all interns have done before them, they will have the opportunity to dive right in and get their hands dirty in AMD, and immerse themselves in as much of the workload that they are willing to take on with their available time between classes to gain the most experience possible out of the internship. I’ve stressed to them already on the first day the importance of paying attention to details, learning the acronyms that are constantly affiliated with the community groups, State, Local, and Federal government agencies and authorities that we work with, picking up on skill sets that are applied science related and hands-on in the field, learning how to write technical documents, reports, grants, and learning how EPCAMR Staff develops budgets and partnerships to put together our restoration and remediation projects throughout the region. It’s my hope that they take the initiative to truly understand just how much effort a group like EPCAMR has to go through to get a project successfully on the ground and funded and what it takes to develop those relationships with people from our coalfield communities throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA in the name of clean water and for the protection, preservation, and reclamation of our land and water impacted by past mining practices.”

Just today, EPCAMR received word that Michael Hewitt, our Program Coordinator’s application for Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) Certification was approved by the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI)!

“It’s nice to add a few letters to the end of my name,” Mike said as he changed his business card to read Michael A. Hewitt, GISP. “Like a PE or PG, now there is something to signify that I can make a map,” he joked.

The GIS Certification is really nothing to joke about. The application process examines a professionals history and includes a minimum of requirements for documenting educational achievement, professional experience, and contributions to the profession.

What is a GISP?

A GISP is a Certified Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Professional that has had their professional background scrutinized and reviewed by an independent third party organization. An Institute comprised of leading non-profit associations (AAG, NSGIC, UCGIS, GITA, URISA, GLIS) focused on the application of GIS and geospatial technology.

A GISP must abide by higher guidelines for ethical behavior and continues to educate and reeducate him or herself while preparing for recertification.

A GISP can come from anywhere in the world, and current active GISPs reside in all 50 States and 25 foreign countries.

A GISP is more than a practitioner of GIS technology, A GISP is a Professional.

Minimum Required Points for Initial Certification

The GISP is expected to be knowledgeable of the ethical considerations of this industry and will conduct him or herself in an ethical manner in all aspects of the job.

Experience is the most important factor in applying skills to real world problems, and education plays a very important role in providing the knowledge and intellectual maturity required to approach problems and communicate solutions effectively. In addition, professionals must contribute to the advancement of the profession by donating their skills in professional efforts not designed for individual compensation, but rather to maintain the fundamental health of the Profession.

This forms the basis for the minimum number of points required in each category. The minimums are based upon a model GIS Professional who possess the following characteristics: a baccalaureate degree in any field supplemented with a number of courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, and other documented educational activities whose subject matter relates directly to GIS and geospatial data technologies; at least four years of equivalent full-time experience in a position that involves spatial data compilation, teaching, GIS analysis, design, or programming; and more years if in a GIS user position; and a demonstrated record of participating and/or presenting in GIS conferences, publications, or GIS-related events (such as GIS-Day).

The minimum number of points needed to become a certified GIS Professional is 150 points. “I documented over 200 points and stopped so I don’t look like an overachiever, but I do have about 15 years experience using ArcGIS and other mapping programs,” he remarked, “I also heard that in 2015, the application process will require a test, so I got it out of the way this year.”

The regional observance of Mining History Week will take place January 10-24, 2015, at programs in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Pittston, Port Griffith, Wyoming, Ashley, and Wilkes-Barre Township. The annual event seeks to remember and honor the area’s anthracite mineworkers, their families and communities.

Location of the infamous whirlpool breakthrough into the Ewen Colliery workings beneath the Susquehanna River.

Meet and Hear Local Authors, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Wilkes-Barre Township; local authors will speak about their books beginning at 2:30 p.m., and meet and greet patrons before and afterwards; authors include William Conologue, John Dziak, William Hastie, William Kashatus, Kathleen Munley, Sheldon Spear, Kenneth Wolensky, and Robert Wolensky.

EPCAMR’s GIS Specialist, Samantha Schafer worked with Gabby Zawacki, Watershed Outreach Specialist and other EPCAMR GIS Staff (Kelsey Biondo and Dave Svab) to design and produce a ANSI C sized Quick Reference Mine Map Symbol Poster of typical and not so common mine map symbols, geological points of interest, and surface and underground features from Anthracite Mine Maps from Northeastern and NorthCentral PA. Over the last several months the GIS Section of EPCAMR have been finding and deciphering many types of mine map symbols from the surface maps, underground mine maps, cross-section maps, and other historic reports as a part of the scanning, cataloging, digitizing, and geo-referencing thousands of mine maps for the Commonwealth’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program. Taking the time to review each mine map is a daunting task by the EPCAMR Staff. Some maps are up to 20-40′ in length and the majority of them are 56″ in width.

Robert and Kelsey holding up the Holmes Vein Map that is nearly 20′ in length to give an example of all the symbology that could be contained on one vein map.

EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes, tasked Samantha, following her recent evaluation and promotion to create a poster of all of the mine map symbols that I had noticed that she and other Staff had been collecting and noting drawings of from the maps while they were interpreting them and learning how to read them. She picked up quickly on some graphics design software tools and shortcuts thanks to Gabby Zawacki and she was off to the races. “I wanted her to be able to take the mine map symbols and create a quick reference guide, not only for the other Staff in the EPCAMR Office, but for the general public, mining enthusiasts, preservationists, and future interns that make their way through our doors throughout the year. I wanted to produce it as a public service to those that may still have mine maps from their parents or grandparents in their attics or basements and don’t really understand how to read or interpret them. Myself, and my co-worker, Mike, have been trained by some of the best mining engineers in the State, over the last few decades, and for those that have passed along the institutional knowledge, we are forever thankful. So many interpretations and Anthracite Mining Company secrets or proprietary use of symbols and mining terms or changes in the names of the coal vein sequences with other common names more appropriate to their own individual company or colliery was common to keep a leg up on the competition. EPCAMR is now mapping and deciphering some of those “Anthracite Hieroglyphics”, as I like to call them. The EPCAMR Staff did a great job and public service by putting this quick little reference guide poster together.

Many of these features are necessary for EPCAMR to find on the maps using our large monitors and zoom capabilities to create points on the maps on the surface to locate them within a geographic space and give them a latitude and longitude in terms of global positioning. The location then allows us to obtain a topographic elevation of the surface and make some determinations of depth of other features such as the water levels, boreholes, tunnels, drifts, slopes, shafts, rock tunnels, gangways, breasts, monkey veins, faults, barrier pillars, and other features that are underground and give them an elevation above mean seal level as a datum. We can also create thicknesses of coal veins and other overburden rock that is above the coal veins (top rock) and those rock layers beneath the coal (bottom rock).

This is a typical underground mine map of the Holmes Vein in the Silver Creek Colliery, Blythe Twp., East Schuylkill County District, Reading Anthracite Collieries from the Southern Anthracite Coal Fields with various symbols contained on it.

Water elevations in the boreholes help us to determine and estimate volumes of water present in the underground mine pools and points underground at which mine water flows up, around, over, and sometimes through barrier pillars as it makes its’ way to the surface and discharges as AMD at a myriad of abandoned mine land features on the landscape. We believe that much of the symbology is the same for the Bituminous Region of Western PA, so the poster may prove useful to our counterparts like WPCAMR, other watershed groups, and partners like Trout Unlimited to assist them in interpreting the intricacies of underground mine mapping. EPCAMR is sure to find many more of these symbols as we continue to work through the thousands of maps that are being reviewed, scanned, and catalogued, so we may add another entire poster to this as a series if there are more than enough symbols to interpret and display as reference points for the general public.

EPCAMR will be putting the image online for free, however, should anyone want a copy of the ANSI C poster sized Mine Map Symbol mailed directly to them, it will soon be able to be ordered from our EPCAMR Online Store for a minimal fee and shipping.

EPCAMR’s first Mine Map Symbology Poster possibly in a series to be released should additional symbols be found as more and more Anthracite Mine Maps are researched and scanned by the EPCAMR Staff.

EPCAMR is also looking for mine maps to add to our digital collection and to be able to provide to the State to upload to the Mine Subsidence Insurance website for public viewing should they want to learn about what lies beneath their homes, business, or industry. We will scan them and provide a digital copy back to the owners of the maps for free as a public service.

Should anyone have a collection in their homes and don’t know what to do with them, EPCAMR will take them as a donation or will scan them digitally for you and give them back. Contact Robert E. Hughes at 570-371-3523 or rhughes@epcamr.org

EPCAMR Executive Director wanted to announce that Samantha Schafer has been promoted to GIS Specialist from GIS Technician on the Mine Subsidence Insurance Mapping Grant. She will begin to work along Dave Svab to begin to digitize many of the thousands of mine maps that EPCAMR has acquired from the PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Office of Surface Mining, Private Collections, Blue Coal Corporation, and the Pottsville District Mining Office. She has scanned several thousand maps and has gone above and beyond her normal workload for the last 3 months and as a part of her probationary review process, EPCAMR was able to promote her to GIS Specialist to begin to now digitize polygon features in ArcGIS of the thousands of coal vein layers and extents of coal mining that will be taken from the mine maps that she had previously scanned along with other EPCAMR Staff. Great job Samantha!! Moving on up…yet still working underground!

Samantha Schafer, was promoted recently to GIS Specialist with EPCAMR.

Inquiring Systems Inc., a California non-profit corporation has awarded EPCAMR with a 2 Year, $15,000 project management agreement to continue research work and to promote the use of the innovative Waterboxx Technology, patented by Groassis, an international company founded in Holland, for planting tree seedlings in our communities, on our abandoned mine lands, in local municipalities, along mine drainage treatment systems, on school grounds, and in community and historic parks.

Schematic of a Waterboxx

Robert planting a Waterboxx at the Espy Run AMD Treatment System on Earth Conservancy property, located in Hanover Township, on an formerly abandoned mine land problem area that has been reclaimed.

Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) will serve as the lead regional environmental non-profit organization from the Northern Anthracite Coalfields that will undertake, coordinate, monitor, research, report, conduct education and outreach into the communities served in the region on the EPCAMR Waterboxx Collaborative, and recruit its existing volunteer base and existing coalition of watershed organizations and other reclamation related partners to plant trees on various mining, vacant lands, at mine drainage treatment facilities, abandoned mine lands, public, State, County, or community parks within the coalfields, along riparian corridors in the watersheds worked in, and around underserved schools in areas where reforestation, streetscape, and shade tree canopy cover establishment could be undertaken and easily maintained throughout the course of the project.

The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) will facilitate and assist with the design, implementation and analysis of this pilot phase experiment using Groasis Waterboxxes. ARRI’s foresters will provide quality control on all proposed planting activities including site preparation, tree planting, Waterboxx installation and monitoring. ARRI Science Team (http://arri.osmre.gov/) will continue to provide layout, design and advice regarding the experiments undertaken. ARRI would continue to assess the potential for the Waterboxx technology within the overall goals and objectives of their mandate for reforestation and restoration parameters and programs to determine if and how this technology can be integrated into ARRI operations and activities going forward.

EPCAMR will be looking to work once again with the Appalachian Coal Country Team (ACCT) to provide direct assistance with the Waterboxx research that initially funded the Phase I and Phase II of the research project that enabled EPCAMR to plant seedlings on abandoned mine lands over the last two years.

Bridgemont Sustainability Institute (BSI)- The BSI Advisory Council intends to begin the process of conducting research into the establishment of job training curriculum and small business enterprise development. This effort will be conducted within an emerging network of community-based programs that emphasize the training and job-related practice for sustainability practitioners/advocates in West Virginia and that this educational practice will be an important role for the nascent Bridgemont Sustainability Institute. BSI shall develop their plans in conjunction with the actual results that are achieved within the experiments that are underway and that will be conducted and will be connecting to and engaging with appropriate partners to accomplish that set of objectives. Depending on the outcomes that are expected but yet to be confirmed, BSI would initiate and develop related and appropriate workforce development training that are likely to include small business planning, customer service training, specialized skills training (to carry out the work of the business enterprise), etc. and be carried out by BCTC faculty or adjunct faculty recruited by us. BSI continues to be committed to the overall project objectives and has agreed to participate in the promotion of the Waterboxx project through Phase II and within the aforementioned sustainability network. BSI would begin preliminary research related to workforce development initiatives around building the Waterboxxes with biodegradable materials.

EPCAMR will further examine this expanded reforestation and ecosystem restoration experiment to assess and evaluate the viability, practicality, usefulness and cost effectiveness associated with improving the survivability and sustainability of a variety of indigenous and ecosystem compatible native Pennsylvania tree species that are associated with the reforestation requirements and enhanced resiliency of the ecosystems and diverse environmental landscapes in which these experiments will be conducted.

EPCAMR will provide a summary of what we’ve deemed the successes, problems, and sometimes failures of the completed Phase I and Phase II experiments that have already been conducted over the last two years at two site locations where a total of 34 Waterboxxes had been placed for research under previous grant awards by the ACCT.

Project Site 1 is the Huber Miner’s Memorial Park, Ashley, PA, Luzerne County, a former grayfields abandoned mine site on a 3 acre parcel of abandoned mine lands that was a part of the former Huber Coal Corporation Colliery that is now being converted into a public community park being undertaken by the Huber Breaker Preservation Society and EPCAMR, along with a host of other local project supporters and contributing community volunteers. This site had the notoriety of being the location of the last coal breaker standing in the Northern Anthracite Appalachian Coal Fields until earlier this year when it was torn down and sold for its value in scrap metal by a scrap metal recycling company out of the Philadelphia area, Paselo Logistics. The Project was under the direction of Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, and Ray Clarke, Chairman and Treasurer of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society, along with the ACCT Raven 5 NCCC Team, and Charlie Jones, Eagle Scout Candidate, Swoyersville, PA, who was awarded the esteemed honor following the completion of the project with Troop #154.

Project Site 2 is the Espy Run Abandoned Mine Drainage Treatment System, Hanover Township, PA, Luzerne County, a former abandoned mine land property owned by the Earth Conservancy, that has worked closely with EPCAMR to design and construct a passive wetlands AMD Treatment System to treat the Espy Run mine drainage discharge that would otherwise flow into Espy Run, a tributary to the Nanticoke Creek, untreated, if it were not for the construction of this treatment system. EPCAMR monitors this AMD Treatment System for the Earth Conservancy frequently throughout the year and it has been easy to monitor the 14 Waterboxxes that were placed by the Boy Scouts of America Troop #154 and EPCAMR. The Project was under the direction of Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, and Joe Del Santo, Eagle Scout candidate, Dallas, PA, from the same Troop that worked on Project Site 1, a year earlier, who was awarded the esteemed honor following the completion of the project with his Troop.

7 Waterboxxes can be seen in this photo at the Espy Run AMD Treatment System on Earth Conservancy property located in Hanover Township, PA.

The results of initial Phase I and Phase II experiments by EPCAMR and our partners have, to date, been very positive, with a few setbacks, in terms of seedling mortality, cracked Waterboxxes, intensive deer browsing, lack of growth of pine seedlings due to sandy backfilled soils, Winter snowfalls caused breakage in the seedling heights, and accidental damage to a few Waterboxxes by a careless excavator operator from an adjacent property owner at the Huber Memorial Park location occurred.

However, EPCAMR affirms that the growth of the seedlings in the majority of the Waterboxxes have been successful and are thriving, making them a practical, cost effective and fully functional tree planting enhancement that are capable of achieving the following objectives:

To expand the ecosystem specific planting and growing experiments at new selected sites reflective of the type of soil and environmental conditions that could benefit from the use of the Waterboxx technology.

To continue with scientifically valid research experimental analysis at the current Phase I and II sites wherein we are using a comparative methodology in which selected tree species are planted in similar conditions with one set using the Waterboxx and the other not. In this way plantings are being monitored and data is being collected that allows to make the analysis and to evaluate the outcomes from the two methods.

To expand this Waterboxx technology within the Northern Anthracite Coal Fields Appalachian EPCAMR region in several additional distinct ecosystems to be designated and defined by EPCAMR and our Coalition partners in our area, with varying soil and environmental conditions from which a determination can be made regarding the suitability, viability and cost effectiveness of the Waterboxx technology.

To continue the monitoring, analysis and evaluation of the prior plantings and to expand the experiments into new areas in order to determine if sufficient evidence is available upon the conclusion of the experiments and analysis that will assist with determining what types of ecosystems can benefit the most from the Waterboxx technology as an integral aspects of the overall reforestation and restoration strategy and practices of the participating collaborative partners.

The Waterboxx Project experiment research design parameters have been implemented and EPCAMR has relayed the need to modified these methods in correspondence with and compatible with the unique conditions of each ecosystem in which the experimental activities are being conducted and due to the lack of specific monitoring devices and funding for soil testing. The experimental criteria continues, as before, consisting of 20 hardwood seedlings planted with Waterboxxes at different locations along with a comparable planting of 20 similar controls of the same tree species (40) trees planted and monitored for this first pilot Phase III of the project). EPCAMR will work with ARRI to work cooperatively with ACCT to locate these additional sites and acquire and employ resources appropriate to and consistent with the requirement of the research project to make sure that all site locations are properly prepared. EPCAMR can provide some in-kind contributions towards this effort, in terms of GIS Mapping, printing of maps, GPS equipment usage, GPS data gathering of the locations of the plantings of the Waterboxxes geographically, and use of some EPCAMR equipment and available supplies towards the project.

Several of the EPCAMR Staff are already trained in the construction and placement of the Waterboxxes and have trained over 50 community volunteers in the last two years so that they were able to properly monitor, report and maintain the experiment at each of our previous Project Sites. EPCAMR will to train additional community volunteers under the Phase III operations. EPCAMR will continue to collaborate and work cooperatively with the ARRI Science Team when appropriate, and local colleges and universities for monitoring and analysis purposes through supporting internships on a quarterly basis that will allow EPCAMR to continue to train additional undergraduate students to assist with the project.

EPCAMR developed and implemented educational outreach components that helped to connect multiple age groups at our sites, working with elderly community leaders, parents, Boy Scouts of America, community leaders, environmental leaders, interns from the local colleges and universities, and with the former NCCC Raven 5 OSM/VISTA AmeriCorps Team. The volunteer participants were organized and managed by EPCAMR and engaged in the planting of trees at each selected location. EPCAMR has an existing extensive 20 year network of community watershed organizations, reclamation-related non-profits, regional environmental NGO’s, strong municipal partnerships, and civic groups that we will be reaching out to provide opportunities for them to acquire the Waterboxxes and the seedlings for participation in the project.

EPCAMR proposes to conduct the following activities for Phase III of the Waterboxx Research Project:

To plant 160 trees using 80 Waterboxxes in 2015-2017 for the project. Plantings will occur between the months of March and August of 2015-2016. Plantings will occur on a variety of soil types including but not limited to ripped/unripped legacy mine soils, vacant lots, streambanks, parks, historic preservation sites, and abandoned mine lands. Planting methodology and alternations will be made under supervision of Groasis.

EPCAMR will report monthly between the Spring of 2015 and June of 2017. A total of 160 trees using 80 Waterboxxes implementing the Groasis standard of two seedlings or one seedling/one bush per Waterboxx standard will be utilized. Two seedlings or one seedling/one bush method will be used for both seedlings with a Waterboxx and without.

The initial planting report will include but not be limited to:

Temperature of soil/air/water in and outside of the Waterboxx

Checked at morning and end of work day (depending on proximity to office and accessibility to sites)

All reports will be compiled into a single report to be submitted to ISI and Groasis for their research efforts.

EPCAMR will communicate with Bridgemont Sustainability Institute (BSI) to analyze our prior results from our previous Phase I and Phase II projects to provide additional insight as it becomes available to guide the research and development of those previous projects as they relate to the implementation of Phase III going forward.

EPCAMR expects to receive increased site incentives and financial support to support Staff that will be reflective of the increased monitoring, reporting and analysis requirements combined with the additional involvement with the BSI research.

EPCAMR will work to make the plants more community oriented around the Waterboxx research effort by making the plantings a part of reforestation events. The first report will include information gathered from the volunteer event and initial planting. The next 11 reports will reflect the monthly monitoring data. The final report will feature the overall experience EPCAMR will coordinate in the research effort.

EPCAMR is interested in a volunteer management consultation with ISI or the ACCT Support Office to prepare EPCAMR for future events. It’s anticipated that the consultation will focus around the application of the Toolkit for Working with Rural Volunteers created by the OSM/VISTA Teams. EPCAMR currently does not have a copy of the Toolkit. EPCAMR believes that working through The Toolkit and consultation will assist our own regional non-profit organizations in creating a more sustainable volunteer monitoring program, in addition to tree planting events and other community efforts that are undertaken by our Staff.

EPCAMR Staff will attend a Waterboxx Workshop held by the Reforestation Coordinator to learn about assembly, installation, the overall project concept, and proper reporting, provided that travel and lodging funding is available. EPCAMR Staff can benefit greatly from attending these meetings and workshops where other like-minded organizations that are a part of the research effort will also be there to network and share experiences as well as to be introduced to new partnerships potentially than can be made.

(Ashley, PA)– EPCAMR, the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Wilkes University, Misericordia University, Earth Conservancy, and Greater Nanticoke Area Elementary (GNA) have partnered for an Environmental Education Outreach and Pottery Art Program to teach students about abandoned mine drainage (AMD) water pollution problems in the Southern Wyoming Valley watersheds and how those pollution sources can be solved in creative ways reusing one of the by-products of past mining practices. EPCAMR, who specializes in restoring streams impacted by AMD, conducting community cleanups, and providing education and outreach efforts to many regional schools throughout the Coal Region recently received a $3000 environmental education grant through the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grant Program in order to fund our project through the Summer of 2015. EPCAMR has purchased two pottery wheels, clay, and supplies to support the project.

EPCAMR will be taking the entire 4th & 5th grade classes from GNA to multiple AMD impacted sites within the School District and in S. Wilkes-Barre. Seven field trips are planned that will allow students to experience where the iron oxide comes from before heading to EPCAMR to see how iron oxide can be processed and re-used in art projects. The iron oxide can be used for painting, tie-dying, making chalk, and creating pottery glazes. EPCAMR, with the help of Jean Adams of Wilkes University & Skip Sensbach of Misericordia University, both Artists and Professors who will be teaching the students at GNA how to create pottery and use reclaimed iron oxide in order to create sustainable art. GNA’s Mrs. Michelle Kordek, is assisting with the coordination of the project with EPCAMR, both inside and outside of the classroom. The students will be creating art after the Winter Christmas Break in early 2015 in their art classroom where they will be dipping their pottery that they create in one of several iron oxide glazes that will be mixed by EPCAMR and the Artists. EPCAMR plans to create its very own regional glaze mixture of iron oxide by the end of the project.

EPCAMR’s Executive Director and local resident of Nanticoke, Robert Hughes, who has worked previously with the Greater Nanticoke Area to bring grants and outdoor environmental education programs to the District over the last 8 years is happy to be able to bring this type of interdisciplinary education approach to the 4th and 5th grade students at GNA. He goes on to say:

“I really think that our students need to gain an understanding of the local world around them and the impacts that it is having on them directly or indirectly, whether or not they know what those problems are at this point in their young lives or not. By having our regional non-profit organization bring the students out into the surrounding local streams and watersheds that are within two miles of their own backyard and school to learn about the environmental impacts to our community is something that they should at least be aware of as they get older. They should understand why their rivers and streams are orange, smell like sulfur, where this mine water is coming from, and what can be done and is being done to clean it up. They should learn that they can become a part of the solution and become actively engaged in local stream cleanups or illegal dump site cleanups that EPCAMR has already coordinated within the School District and greater Southern Wyoming Valley. Those students who might want to become artists will also have another outlet and medium to work in once we show them how to recycle the iron oxide from these mine discharges that can be used for multiple art mediums in the classroom. These are just some of the reasons why I’ve decided to pursue this grant and was successful in having our organization receive the innovative grant award to serve our community first. I want my hometown to be the first School District to have the opportunity to utilize our regional iron oxide glazes that we will be creating and using in the classroom when we create some pottery art next year.”

The AMD Field Tours are going to be in the mornings from around 8am-12 noon on the following dates: November 21, November 24, November 25, November 26, December 2, December 3, and December 5.

Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) is caused by a reaction between pyrite, fool’s gold, and the oxygen present in the water. The result is a thick orange sediment which coats the stream bottom and makes it difficult for native plants and animals to live in the water. 5500 miles of streams in PA are polluted by AMD. www.epcamr.org

– Discharges from an abandoned air shaft (#7) from the former Susquehanna #7 Colliery

– Was once the slackwater section for the Susquehanna North Branch Canal. Boats would come along the canal near Access Road to be loaded with coal.

– 2000 gal/minute average flow with high iron loading that eventually reaches the Newport Creek and Susquehanna River

– Where EPCAMR get most of our iron oxide

– Have students assist with getting iron oxide

Wilkes University Volunteer cleaning up trash along the Honey Pot AMD discharge near the LCCC Park-n-Ride.

Site 3: Solomon Creek Boreholes

– 6 Boreholes (5 new & 1 old), 2 old ones collapsed and were replaced with 5 new ones

– Third largest borehole drainage area in the region

– 20 million gallons of water per day

– Boreholes are 240 feet deep

Solomon Creek AMD Boreholes in South Wilkes-Barre

Site 4: Askam Borehole AMD Treatment System (20 minutes)

– Askam Borehole drilled in the 1970’s to relieve water pressure from underground mines causing water to go into residential basements;

– Collapsed in 1998 and two new boreholes had to be drilled on the other side of Dundee Road in between SR 29 and along the streambank of Nanticoke Creek

– Askam Treatment System uses the Maelstrom Oxidizer which uses a series of tubes which push air into the water and cause the iron to fall out, making the water cleaner as it enters back into Nanticoke Creek following the dropping out of the iron in the series of ponds and baffles used to slow down the water

– 3500 gal/minute into system

– Have students monitor water level (depth to the mine pool) at the Borehole with the Solonist Tape

Askam AMD Borehole along Dundee Road.

Site 5: EPCAMR Office

– Show students iron oxide station and examples of reuse of the pigment for various products

EPCAMR staff has created its own version to highlight some of the oddities found around the Coal Region. In honor of Halloween, we’ve decided to showcase our first three “EPCAMR’s Believe It or Not!” cartoons! They are “The Loch-Mess Monster of Red Lake,” “The Avondale Pit Cheerio Bowl,” and “The Curse of SHARP Mountain.” EPCAMR will be releasing a few “EPCAMR’s Believe It or Not!” cartoons each month. Keep an eye out and enjoy!

The Loch-Mess Monster of Red Lake

Our first oddity is based on Red Lake, also known as Newport Lake. Red Lake is located in Nanticoke, PA and was once a stripping pit for the Glen Man Colliery. It gets its name from the abandoned mine drainage (AMD) flowing in from mine discharges around the area. The 20-acre polluted lake has been left untreated and many come to view the strange coloration left behind by iron-oxide from the AMD.

The Avondale Pit Cheerio Bowl

The Avondale Pit Cheerio Bowl was once a stripping pit located in the Avondale section of Nanticoke, PA. This stripping pit has since been reclaimed but was once a prime illegal-dump site filled with hundreds of old tires, trash, and even a rusted car! Avondale is also the location of the worst mine disaster in Pennsylvania history. The disaster occurred because the breaker, which was located directly above the shaft, caught fire, trapping the miners inside.

The Curse of SHARP Mountain

Sharp Mountain is located in Pottsville, PA. The mountain was heavily mined for anthracite through the early to mid 1900s. It’s called “Sharp Mountain” because of the steeply pitched anthracite coal veins. Today, the veins remain exposed, leaving the mountain with 43-acres of crop falls. There has been an ongoing “Sharp Mountain Reclamation Project” to attempt to close the open veins, some of which go down 300 ft. So far the project has had little success.

EPCAMR has been recently selected as one out of hundreds of applications from across the country who submitted to the POLARIS Trails Grant Program to receive $10,000 to support our regional work and technical assistance to coalfield communities throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA. Grants will not be paid in full until receipt of a Final Summary Report. $1000 will be held until the final report has been received. The first of its kind in the ATV industry, the T.R.A.I.L.S. Grant Program was launched in January 2006 for ATV clubs, associations and grassroots groups. ATV riders and the trails they use are the lifeblood of the sport and Polaris Industries Inc. aimed to create a program to help. The T.R.A.I.L.S. program makes funds available to national, state and local organizations in the United States to ensure the future of ATV riding.

T.R.A.I.L.S. stands for:

T = Trail Development

R = Responsible Riding

A = Access

I = Initiatives

L = Lobbying

S = Safety

Polaris’s grant program encompasses two main objectives – promoting safe and responsible riding, and preserving access. Funds can be used by organizations for trail development and maintenance projects, safety and education initiatives, and other projects to increase and maintain land access.

EPCAMR will be assessing the safety and future potential trail development on abandoned mine lands throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA in partnership with the Earth Conservancy , PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR), PA Game Commission (PGC), and other private landowners including County Governments that we work with on reclaiming abandoned mine sites remediating streams impacted by polluted mine water and the creation of trails and open space areas. EPCAMR will be assessing and surveying the potential hazards around the development maintenance and construction of trails on these abandoned mine sites to increase the public’s knowledge of them potential for future access and to justify the need for State or Federal funding to improve the health and safety aspects on many of these sites, including the identification of illegal dump sites and recommendations for future cleanup. EPCAMR will also be better suited to access areas where we currently are monitoring abandoned mine discharges at tunnel locations, shafts, slopes, breaches, and other surface water impoundments that are contributing abandoned mine drainage (AMD) into the surrounding watersheds and communities that we serve.

EPCAMR has been in need of an ATV to access these sites for years to get our field monitoring equipment maintenance equipment, spray paint for the various trails, supplies, cameras, GPS units, and water monitoring equipment that often times have to be backpacked in and out of these sites on the back’s of Staff that can way upwards of 30-40 pounds. The funds would be used to purchase an ATV or ATVs with enough space to transport a few staff and the necessary equipment to conduct all of our field work. It will also support other outreach and education materials that will be developed by the EPCAMR Staff over the course of the year, including posters, trail maps, additional partnerships with private landowners to discuss access issues, coordination of illegal dump site cleanups on abandoned mine lands, and the health and safety factors present on these sites that EPCAMR is all too familiar with. EPCAMR in the past has been an active member of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Outdoor Recreational Committee and is very familiar with issues surrounding ATVs public access for ATV users and other forms of recreational trail user groups. EPCAMR also has a long-standing relationship with many coal land operators, coal companies, large landowners, and other regional non-profit conservancy groups throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA.

The benefits of this project will be that more miles of trails, streams impacted by AMD, and abandoned mine lands can be surveyed and assessed more quickly and with the proper equipment being able to be brought in and out of the sites to perform the necessary site surveys for public health and safety. No organization is doing this right now in Northeastern PA on abandoned mine lands that we are aware of and EPCAMR has a 20 year history of working on abandoned mine land reclamation trail projects, stream restoration projects, community outreach, and environmental education programs in our coalfield communities. We have existing relationships with Off-Road Vehicle Clubs 4X4 Clubs and Off-Road Magazines that can help us promote our work and the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. program. Currently our regional non-profit lacks the transportation to get to these sites to properly assess and survey them other than hiking and walking in to them for miles with heavy backpacks and numerous trips due to the inability to get in and out with everything we need in one trip, therefore creating additional time that is necessary to double back and walk in and out of these areas over and over again.

EPCAMR will list the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. Grant Program on our website (epcamr.org), FaceBook (EPCAMR), and on our PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Community Facebook Group page. EPCAMR will be incorporating the Polaris logo with permission into our trail maps and other reports that are likely to be produced. EPCAMR will shoot our own HD video and create a poster of us performing maintenance surveys and taking photographs of scenic vistas, AMD, illegal dumping sites, before and after photos of anticipated cleanups, potential hazards, and vertical mine openings or water-filled stripping pits often located on these properties to increase the education outreach and awareness that is necessary to promote safety on these trails, haul roads, and abandoned railroad grades.

EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes, who wrote the grant application on a lead from EPCAMR’s Community Development Coordinator Volunteer, Frank Knorek, who did some initial homework on potential sources of funding such as this application program that would be able to assist EPCAMR in fulfilling it’s mission. “I appreciate Frank’s due diligence and investigative abilities to find us the source of grant funds that were out there.” Most of the time, it’s the wee hours in the morning, when I have the time that is completely uninterrupted where I can focus on writing down what EPCAMR needs that will at the same time fulfill the needs of the grantors. This grant was no different. Earlier in the Summer, on June 29th, I sat down that evening and within a few hours had plugged in to the online application why we needed this grant for these types of vehicles and field monitoring equipment. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call two days ago from Jennifer Kuzma, Polaris Industries Inc.-Marketing & Event Coordinator from Medina, Minnesota. These funds will be put to good use.”